Babies were exchanged by “mistake” in Spain and now the hospital faces a millionaire claim

A 19-year-old citizen of Spain claims 3.5 million dollars for damages caused after having been exchanged, when she was newborn, with another baby and given to a family that was not her own.

The events date back to 2002, when at the hospital San Millán de Logroño, a health center already closed, there was a “human error”, as explained by authorities in the La Rioja region (northern Spain).

This change in the two babies, two little girls born on the same day five hours apart and placed in incubators, did not come to light until fifteen years later.

And it was due to a family conflict over the alimony of one of the young women, which led to DNA tests that determined that she was not the biological daughter of either the man or the woman who until then she believed were her parents.

The young woman, raised by who she believed to be her grandmother, filed the complaint feeling strongly aggrieved by the mistake.

The 19-year-old claims 3.5 million dollars, but the health authorities of La Rioja, which like all regions in Spain have competition in health, they offer to pay about $254,000, Saez-Morga said.

“Relevant investigation has been conducted, which is conclusive that human error occurred,” said on Tuesday the regional head of Health, Sara Alba.

“Unable to conclude who” was at the origin of the error “since the systems were not computerized in such detail 20 years ago.” Alba told reporters.

But “we are available to families to give them all the necessary support they may need, maintaining the confidentiality and respect that this type of situation requires,” she said.

It was “a punctual human error that today cannot be repeated. We are also ensuring that this does not happen again. We have no record of more cases”, she added.

According to the young woman’s lawyer, the results of the DNA tests of the other family are not known, which for now has not gone to justice.

At the judicial level, the judges must rule on the merits of the case and in particular on the necessary correction of their marital status before deciding on compensation, added Sáez-Morga.